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Information about Early Childhood Education

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Infant playing with a book.
Early childhood education (ECE) is a pedagogical approach to cover the education of children from the period from birth to six years of age.

What, Exactly is Early Childhood Education? According to NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), early childhood spans the human life from birth to age 8. Infants and toddlers experience life more holistically than any other age group. Social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical lessons are not learned separately by very young children.Adults who are most helpful to young children interact in ways that understand that the child is learning from the whole experience, not just that part of the experience to which the adult gives attention.

Although early childhood education does not have to occur in the absence of the parent or primary caregiver, this term is sometimes used to denote education by someone other than these the parent or primary caregiver. Both research in the field and early childhood educators view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process. Early childhood education takes many forms depending on the theoretical and educational beliefs of the educator or parent.

Other terms that are often used interchangeably with "early childhood education" are "early childhood learning," "early care," and "early education." Much of the first two years of life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self" or the building of a first identity. Because this is a crucial part of children's makeup-how they first see themselves, how they think they should function, how they expect others to function in relation to them, early care must ensure that in addition to carefully selected and trained caregivers, links with family, home culture, and home language are a central part of program policy. If care becomes a substitute for, rather than a support of, family, children may develop a less-than-positive sense of who they are and where they come from because of their child care experience.

Early childhood education or learning focus on children learning through play.

Childhood Development(:

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Baby being put on a keyboard by its parents
There are different developmental domains of children which all relate to each other:
  • Physical development - Concerning the physical growth and the development of both gross(eg. walking) and fine motor(eg. finger movement) control of the body.
  • Perception and sensory development - How a child functions using the senses and the ability to process the information gained.
  • Communication and language development - Using visual and sound stimuli, especially in the acquisition of language, also in the exchange of thoughts and feelings.
  • Cognitive development - Concerning how the individual thinks and react.
  • Emotional Development - Concerning children's increasing awareness and control of their feelings and how does he react to these feelings in a given situation.
  • Social Development - Concerning the child's identity, their relationship with others, and understanding their place within a social environment.
Recent studies on infant brain development show most of a person's neurons are formed from ages 0-8. If a young child doesn't receive sufficient nurturing, nutrition, parental/caregiver interaction, and stimulus during this crucial period, the child may be left with a developmental deficit that hampers his or her success in preschool,kindergarten' and beyond.

Worst-case scenarios such as those found in Russian and Romanian orphanges demonstrate how the lack of proper social interaction and development of attachement affect the developing child. Children must receive attention and affection from their caregivers to develop in a healthy manner.

Theory and curriculum

A wide array of educational philosophies circulate through the field. Some professionals adhere to more of a behaviorist theory as developed by John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner and Edward Thorndike. Others hold to the more unstructured maturationist theory popularized by Jacques Rousseau and Maria Montessori. Additionally, stage theories such as those of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson are used to look at social and emotional development.

Currently early childhood teacher education programs teach a mix of theories dominated by the constructivism (learning theory) theory as put forth by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.

Each philosophy forms the undergirding theory behind its own selection of school curriculum used throughout the world.

Behaviorist ideas dominate direct instruction methods (like DISTAR). Constructivist ideas dominate curricula like High/Scope and The Creative Curriculum.[1] While maturational theory is the underpining for Montessori. A mix of maturationist and constructionist ideas supply the base theory for the Reggio Emilia approach.

The curriculum in a "Head Start" program is designed to meet the needs of each child. One goal is to build self-esteem that is seen as necessary to future success in school. Staff encourage self-confidence, curiosity, and self-discipline. A variety of learning experiences are designed to meet the children's needs in the various areas of development. Staff should work as a team to implement the new government issued curriculum and teach children, based on their interest and in a fun way. Parent involvement should be the heart of the program. Preschool children must be provided with early literacy, awareness and intervention in order to perform better during the later years. This will lead the to success once they enter schools, and put them on the right track by being well prepared with the right and appropriate equipment. ¾

Pedagogy

The philosophy of early childhood education is largely child-centered education. Therefore, there is a focus on the importance of play. Play provides children with the opportunity to actively explore, manipulate, and interact with their environment.

It encourages children to investigate, create, discover and motivate them to take risks and add to their understanding of the world. It challenges children to achieve new levels of understanding of events, people and the environment by interacting with concrete materials.

Hands-on activities create authentic experiences in which children begin to feel a sense of mastery over their world and a sense of belonging and understanding of what is going on in their environment. This philosophy follows with Piaget's ideals that children should actively participate in their world and various environments so as to ensure they are not 'passive' learners but 'little scientists' who are actively engaged.

Play is a very important and special part of childhood. It allows a child to experiment with the world around him and the emotional world inside him. To many it might seem like mere child's play but there is a lot of work going on behind the scene like skill building, problem solving, overcoming physical and mental challenges etc. Playing with products made especially for the preschool children helps a child in building self confidence, encourages independent learning and clears his concepts. For the development of their fine and large or gross motor movements, for the growth of the child's eye-hand coordination, it is extremely important for him to 'play' with the natural things around him. Sand/mud/clay and water play a very important part here.

Giving the child time and playing with him make him a confident human being. We as adults can enter his world of imagination and fantasy and let him control us. This generally helps in building his self confidence and he feels safe and secure with us. We tend to build his self esteem and morale when we give him time and attention. When a child realises that the things of his interest are important to us and that we appreciate his method of play and fun, he tends to get confident of himself. It also allows children to explore new friendships with those they interact with.

Providers

Providers of early childhood education go by many names:
* early childhood programs
* child development programs
* children's centers or day care
* preschool
* head start programs
* early head start
* early childhood education centers
* children's learning centers or children's early learning centers
* nursery schools
* parents

Early Childhood Educational Professional

The teachers of early childhood education often hold the titles of early childhood professional, early childhood teacher, SmartSteps Parent Educator, early childhood educator, early childhood practitioner, early childhood provider, or early childhood caregiver. In addition, there are the following auxiliary positions:

See also

External links

References

1. ^ [http://www.teachingstrategies.com/ The Creative Curriculum]>
Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom.
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child (plural: children) is primarily a boy or girl who has not reached puberty.[1][2] However, some youth reach puberty earlier or later than expected.
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The Theory of Cognitive Development, one of the most historically influential theories was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist (1896–1980). His theory provided many central concepts in the field of developmental psychology and concerned the growth of intelligence,
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Neurons (also known as neurones and nerve cells) are electrically excitable cells in the nervous system that process and transmit information. In vertebrate animals, neurons are the core components of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
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nursery, day nursery, day care center or kindergarten, preschool provides education before the commencement of statutory education.

Day care

Main article: Day care

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Kindergarten   (help info ) Kindergarten was invented in 1892. (German, literally means "children's garden") is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal
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Behaviorism (also called learning perspective) is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors.
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John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878–September 25, 1958) was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism, after doing research on animal behavior.
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Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990), Ph.D. was a highly influential American psychologist, author, inventor, advocate for social reform [1][2][3][4] and poet.
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Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 - August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on animal behavior and the learning process led to the theory of connectionism and helped lay the scientific
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Maturationism is an early childhood educational philosophy that sees the child as a growing organism and believes that the role of education is to passively support this growth rather than actively fill the child with information.
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778) was a philosopher of the Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of both liberal and socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism.
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Maria Montessori (August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician, educator, philosopher, humanitarian and devout Catholic; she is best known for her philosophy and method of education of children from birth to adolescence.
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Sigmund Freud

Born May 6 1856(1856--)
Freiberg, Moravia, now the Czech Republic
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Psychoanalysis

Constructs
Psychosexual development
Psychosocial development
Conscious • Preconscious • Unconscious
Id, ego, and super-ego
Libido • Drive
Transference • Sublimation • Resistance
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Constructivism is a set of assumptions about the nature of human learning that guide constructivist learning theories and teaching methods of education. Constructivism values developmentally appropriate facilitator-supported learning that is initiated and directed by the learner.
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Jean Piaget

Born July 9 1896(1896--)
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died September 16 1980 (aged 84)

Residence Switzerland
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Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (Russian: Лев Семёнович Выготский) (November 17 (November 5 Old Style), 1896 – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet developmental
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The High/Scope early childhood education curriculum is a method of running a nursery school or kindergarten developed in the United States in the 1960s. It is now common there and in some other countries.
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Montessori method is an educational method for children, based on theories of child development originated by Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late 19th and early 20th century.
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The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was started by the parents of the villages around Reggio Emilia in Italy after World War II..... ....
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self-esteem reflects a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth.

Self-esteems encompasses both beliefs (for example, "I am competent/incompetent") and emotions (for example: triumph/despair, pride/shame).
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worldwide view of the subject.
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Day care or child care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's parents or legal guardians, typically someone outside the child's
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nursery, day nursery, day care center or kindergarten, preschool provides education before the commencement of statutory education.

Day care

Main article: Day care

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parent is a father or mother; one who sires or gives birth to and/or nurtures and raises an offspring. The different role of parents varies throughout the tree of life, and is especially complex in human culture.
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Aide may refer to:
  • A person who assists another; an assistant. In military contexts; an officer who acts as assistant to a more senior one; an aide-de-camp.
  • Aide (deity), a purported Basque deity.

See also

  • Aid
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Children's literature is a literary genre whose primary audience is children, although many books within the genre are also enjoyed by adults.

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ART is a three-letter acronym that can mean:

Medicine

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